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Masters: What to Expect Day Four

Peter Hanson celebrates sinking a birdie putt on the 17th green during third-round play Saturday at the Masters.

The leaders finally spread themselves out Saturday at the Masters. After two rounds of clustered parity, the top five separated themselves from the field in neat sequential order, each player one shot behind the one ahead, from nine under par to five under par.

Behind them, four players stood at four under par. Those further behind will probably need divine intervention on Easter Sunday to walk off with the green jacket.

In the final twosome Sunday will be the two men who shot the lowest scores on Saturday: Peter Hanson of Sweden, whose stellar 65 (the lowest of the tournament) included eight birdies against one bogey, and Phil Mickelson, whose bogey-free 66 included four birdies and an eagle on the 13th. Hanson, at nine under for the tournament, has a one stroke lead over Mickelson.

Since 1991, only two winners have come from outside the final pairing (Charl Schwartzel last year and Zach Johnson in 2007). So the smart money would be on Hanson or Mickelson.

Mickelson was over the moon with excitement at his post-round chat with the media.

“I just feel really confident in the way I’ve been playing and the way I’ve been putting and in this setting and on this golf course,” he said. “I love it here and I love nothing more than being in the last group on Sunday at the Masters. It’s the greatest thing in professional golf.”

Mickelson was off his game in the first round. After a triple bogey on the 10th hole Thursday, he stood at four over par. But he rallied to salvage a 74.

“I think when I look back on this tournament, I will go back to Thursday and where I was standing after 10 holes,” he said. He knew he needed to fight back hard, starting then. “The way I fought back on Thursday, keeping me in it, allowed me to make a run to shoot up the leaderboard.”

On Saturday, he carded nine straight pars on the front, then blistered the back nine in 30 strokes (one off the back nine record). The 25-foot eagle putt that curled in on 13 was vintage Mickelson, and showed the value of his experience.

“I’ve hit that putt so many times. I know that it breaks a lot at the hole,” he said.

The other classic Mickelsonian shot on the back nine was a daring flop at 15. With water taunting him beyond the green, he took a full swing with his 64-degree wedge to advance the ball just 30 feet. It settled five feet from the hole and he converted the birdie putt.

“There was some risk in that one,” Phil the Thrill said with more than a bit of understatement.

As superb as Mickelson’s round was, Hanson’s was even better. After an opening bogey, he had nothing but birdies and pars, including five birdies in the last seven holes.

“It feels like you just have to make a good swing, make a good stroke and the ball seemed to just find the hole some way,” he said of that final stretch. “It’s just so nice to get into that – people call it the zone or that peak performance, and I think I was pretty close to that today.”

By chance, Hanson and Mickelson also played together Thursday and Friday. To put it mildly, more of the fans rooted for Mickelson than for the Swede.

“I was trying to use that as a bit of motivation,” Hanson said. “The crowds are so much behind Phil and they love him, and I understand why, the way he plays. … I tried to stay pretty close to him the first couple of days and let it feed off a little bit.”

On Sunday, Hanson can expect two or three times as much pro-Phil noise. If he can continue to draft off of it, he’ll have a chance. But it’s only his second Masters (he missed the cut last year), and his first “back nine on Sunday at the Masters,” which apparently, according to the players, is a different universe from the one the rest of us live in.

Who else might have a chance?

Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa looked as cool on Saturday as he did in winning the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews in a runaway. He shot 69 and stands two behind Hanson at seven under par. “I felt in control of my swing. I felt calm out there,” Oosthuizen said.

It may be pointless to project what could happen Sunday, because anything can, but among the pursuers Oosthuizen would seem to have the best chance of hanging in till the end—just as his good friend and countryman Schwartzel did last year. Schwartzel birdied the last four holes to win.

Next in line, at six under par, is Bubba Watson. No one has more potential to dominate Augusta National than Watson. He is wicked long off the tee. He leads the PGA Tour both in driving distance and greens in regulation, and has more imagination than anyone in the field to visualize the type of shots needed to make a charge.

In fact, every shot for Watson is an adventure in imagination. He never hits the ball straight. Instead, he always curves the ball, in both directions, on various trajectories, to keep his interest up. That’s a great way to play Augusta, until it’s not. Nerves could be Watson’s undoing.

“I’m used to the nervous feeling. I’m used to my stomach,” he said. But he has no illusions. “It’s going to be a tough, tough battle out there, just me and the golf course, not worry about the other people. This is what we live to do is play golf and travel to big tournaments.”

Matt Kuchar, at five under par and four off the lead, made a bunch of great putts Saturday, but he faded a bit down the stretch, despite a birdie on the final hole. If everyone around him crashes and burns, the former accountant could pull off a surprise win.

Among those at four under par, Padraig Harrington (remember him?) and Hunter Mahan had low scores Saturday: 68s.

Mahan rose to world No. 4 after last week’s win at the Shell Houston Open and has been on a tear recently. He’s the PGA Tour’s leading money winner and owns dark glasses to hide behind. He could win sneaky.

Harrington, a three-time major winner, is more of a surprise, since he hasn’t won since 2008, but he exuded confidence in his post-round comments. He said that he’s been playing well recently, except for his putting. And his putting game has come around this week.

Harrington said he believes Augusta National favors those who get a hot hand coming from behind.

“They generally set up the golf course on a Sunday so that somebody is going to have to go and make birdies. This is not a golf course or a tournament that you generally can play to the middle of the green and try to two-putt, no matter what your lead is,” he said. “It gives a great chance to somebody who is chasing here. It really is a tough golf course to hold a lead on.”

If that holds true for the two leaders, Hanson and Mickelson, we could see another wild back nine on Sunday at Augusta. In fact, one way or another, we probably will.

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